"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the
government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the
clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will
be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from
ancient times." (Micah 5:2)

We rejoice in the birth of our Savior, the little baby Jesus, who
would one day suffer and die for us. We rejoice that He was
sent to earth so that we can have the blessed hope of eternal life
in Heaven. From the directors in the FVL Schools Band
Program, to all of you - band members, parents, and teachers in our
FVL Schools - we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

As there are no Saturday rehearsals in December, this will be the
final Update for 2016. Our next group rehearsal will be held on
Saturday, January 14.

Solo Music for our 7th and 8th Grade Students

Over the past two weeks, Mr. Kramer and Mr. Neujahr have been
handing out solo music to the 7th and 8th
grade band students. This music will be played on Saturday,
February 25, at the WSMA Solo and Ensemble Festival which will take
place at Clintonville High School. This is the same location
as last year, when many of our students performed solos. Our
students have the opportunity to play their solo and receive a
rating, and will be given a medal for their efforts as well!
This is the same event in which all of our high school band
students will participate. Individual performance times will
not be known until about two weeks in advance.

Mr. Kramer and Mr. Neujahr will help the students prepare
their music during their weekly band lessons. Many of the
solos the students are receiving are also in SmartMusic! Mr.
Kramer and Mr. Neujahr will be able to use the program during the
student's lesson to aid in the learning process. The students
will be working on their solos in addition to their regular lesson
material for the next few months.

For now, the students have been given a solo book. If a
piano accompaniment is available (most solos have piano) the
students will receive that shortly. All students will also
need a second solo book for the adjudicator. They will
receive those before February 25. All of these books will be
provided for your children, with the cost covered by the FVL
Schools Band Program. After February 25, all books will need
to be returned to FVL. You are certainly able to purchase the
books if you would like to. If so, just let Mr. Neujahr know
and the cost will be added to your second semester
statement.

An accompanist is not required for the solos, but it is
strongly encouraged. The accompanist should be a relatively
strong player, as they need to be able to follow the student part
as well as play the accompaniment without a struggle.
Parents, grandparents, older brothers and sisters, and the like
make excellent accompanists! Some students have even had
classmates accompany them, but if it is a grade school student they
need to be excellent keyboard players.

Lesson Schedule for December 5 - 23

Mr. Kramer and Mr. Neujahr will have REGULAR
LESSONS during the week of December 5 -
9.

A few of our schools are a lesson or two behind the others due to
vacation days, class trips, and so on. In an effort to keep lessons
at each school as even as possible, we will use the following
lesson schedule for the week of December 12 -
16:

Mr. Neujahr
NO LESSONS - Mr. Neujahr will be attending the Midwest International Band and Orchestra
Clinic in Chicago from Tuesday evening, December 13 - Thursday,
December 15. Over 17,000 directors, students, members of
middle school, high school, univerisity, and professional
performing groups, and music industry personnel attend this clinic,
which is recognized as the finest of its kind in the entire
world.

There will be NO LESSONS during the week of December 19 -
23 at any schools.

Lutheran Vanguard of Wisconsin (LVW) Invitation

This is a reminder that 8th grade students are eligible for LVW
2017. Our first camp of the new season will be held at FVL on
January 7-8. Much more information can be found on
our LVW Website. For more information,
check out the "Join" tab.

If any of our 8th grade students are interested in attending the
camp, please keep an eye on the LVW website for additional
announcements. Students who intend to participate in LVW
2017, or who will be joining us for the camp, should Register for LVW 2017.
Please register by December 16. If you need any more
information, please don't hesitate to contact Mr. Neujahr
at jneujahr@fvlhs.org.